Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/285780
EquipmentWorld.com | April 2014 51 I n construction bids, nobody likes to leave money on the table. Yet the biggest control- lable expense – fuel cost – is rarely scrutinized for savings. That's unfortunate, given that the average idle time for heavy equip- ment is 40 percent, says Komatsu's Ken Calvert. Komatsu started putting telemat- ics on its machines in 2006. When they looked at the aggregate data two years later they were shocked to see how often machines idled. And that 40 percent doesn't just mean wasted fuel, Calvert says. It also adds non-productive hours to the machine, lowers the resale value, shortens your warranty coverage, accelerates engine wear and causes you to schedule PMs when you really don't need them. Additionally, in many Tier 4 Interim and Tier 4 Fi- nal engines, excess idle also causes soot to build up faster in the diesel particulate fi lter, requiring more fre- quent regenerations and service. "That's pretty expensive behavior," Calvert says. "If you can limit the unnecessary part of the idle time, you're going to save some money." Changing behavior and monitor- ing idle time through telematics are the keys to reducing these losses. The telematics part is fairly straight- forward. Telematics key Most major OEMs today offer a telematics system for their heavy equipment and trucks. These "black box" devices monitor engine perfor- mance, temperatures, fuel burn and a wide range of conditions and report it back to a website or send the information straight to your smart phone or tablet. And there are plenty of aftermarket telemat- ics systems available that can be retrofi tted to older machines or machines without factory-installed telematics. Once you have the data, the challenge is how to change the behavior of operators and drivers, and that starts with education. Old habits The reason people idle for long periods of time is because for years that's the way everybody operated. "Earlier diesels were hard to start, with heavy rotating masses. Diesel fuel was cheap, so once you got them running, you kept them running," Calvert says. "That's not the case now. The engines start quickly." "Getting the operators' buy-in is an educational process," Calvert says. "Companies should let the operators know that their comfort and safety are foremost, and that their anti-idling campaign is not in confl ict with that. Companies should also instruct the operator that idling is expensive and that it's not good for modern machinery." You should also make sure your anti-idle policy is in compliance with state and local regulations, some of which require operators to shut off equipment after more than fi ve minutes of idle time. Don't criticize Once you have the telematics information in your hands, you can demonstrate to your crews how much time they're spending at idle and even pinpoint specifi c opera- maintenance | by Tom Jackson | TJackson@randallreilly.com Creating an anti-idling policy